Self-confidence as a basis for language efficiency in a multilingual context: An application of official languages as a second/ third spoken language in young adults in Cameroon

The promotion of official bilingualism in Cameroon has always been a permanent concern for the various social actors. The importance attached to bilingualism has led the legislator, through the constitution, to legislate on a panoply of texts governing the supervision and promotion of bilingualism, the basis of which is the written and spoken language. We are interested in spoken language because it is the natural, preferred means (Ferrand & Grainger, 2004) of communication between humans and the vehicle of culture. The present research questions the level of language efficiency in the second/third language in a multilingual situation in Cameroon. The results of research in this area do not call much attention to self-awareness/self-knowledge as a basic emotional skill in language production. It is therefore legitimate to call upon self-confidence, which is a link in the chain of this self-awareness, as a determining factor in second/third language efficiency. The approach adopted is comparative and correlational. The chi-square test and the Z-test were used to analyse the data collected from 208 young adults who were asked to complete a composite scale. These analyses led to the conclusion that in multilingual situations, the level of language efficiency in the second/third language is higher among those who use self -confidence than those who do not.might also be relevant to look at the language spoken through the prism of the subject's awareness their level of knowledge of the language.